JURIST Guest Columnist Richard Seamon of the University of Idaho School of Law says that in light of ever-increasing evidence of detainee abuse by US personnel or parties acting with the approval or complicity of the United States, Congress should change federal law to create a civil remedy for victims of US-sanctioned torture… Newly publicized [...]

A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the case of a detained Chinese researcher who worked for the New York Times is being dealt with according to Chinese law. Zhao Yan has been held since September 2004, and has still not been released by Chinese authorities despite two formal requests filed by Yan's [...]

Leading Muslim clerics have urged that Afghanistan ignore international pressure and execute Abdul Rahman for converting from Islam to Christianity. "The people will kill him if he is freed," declared the chief cleric of a Kabul mosque, and Abdul Raoulf, chief of the Afghan Ulama Council added that "we will call on the people to [...]

Prosecutors concluded their case in the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui Thursday with the testimony of former FBI agent Aaron Zebley, who claimed that the FBI would have been able to trace records and identify 11 of the 19 hijackers if Moussaoui had admitted receiving thousands of dollars in wire transfers when he was arrested [...]

A Belgrade court has reinstated an arrest warrant against the widow of ex-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic after she failed to attend a court appearance scheduled for Thursday. Mira Markovic was charged with abuse of power when she obtained a flat for the family nanny. The court withdrew the outstanding arrest warrant earlier this month at [...]

US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) said Thursday that they have sent a letter to President Bush asking if he knew when he signed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 that it suffered from a "fundamental constitutional problem." Due to a clerical error, identical versions of the legislation were not [...]

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Thursday urged the Iraqi government to take steps to "assert control over the security forces and all armed groups" in the country, noting that there has been an increase in allegations of "death squads," summary executions and torture during the first two months of 2006. In its [...]

President Bush Thursday called for policymakers considering the incendiary issue of immigration reform to conduct themselves "in a civil way…that brings dignity to the process" and hammer out legislation that is "comprehensive and rational and achieves important objectives." While several bills have been proposed , the Senate is about to take up draft legislation by [...]

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday released an advisory opinion to the state Attorney General that permits the 2008 ballot to contain a citizen initiative banning gay marriages, even though the initiative failed to collect enough petition signatures to place the constitutional amendment on the 2006 ballot. According to the ACLU, which brought the initiative [...]

Transportation Security Administration lawyer Carla Martin has been subpoenaed to testify in federal court next Monday regarding her conduct in the Zacarias Moussaoui sentencing trial , sources close to the case said Thursday. Martin has been accused of coaching witnesses and disclosing the government's case to witnesses in violation of a sequestration order , for [...]